The Arising
by TheGameIsOn97
Summary: Nick Fury has done a lot of things in his life. Him recruiting three women who can create fire, ice and bend air along with his adopted daughter, who's a convicted criminal, wasn't something he'd ever seen himself doing. But when Loki threatens Earth with war, a team of remarkable people must come together to fight the battle that no single person could withstand. (SUMMARY INSIDE!)
1. Full Summary

**Full** **Summary**

Loki has stolen the Tesseract, taken control of Clint Barton's mind along with numerous other SHIELD personnel, and has set himself upon a path to conquer Earth. Or at least he's going to attempt to conquer it.

However, Nick Fury has a plan to stop that from happening. A plan that he believes might just be able to save everyone. A plan, that if he wants it to succeed, is going to require a group of very different people to work together.

So, from that, a daring global recruitment effort begins.

First, there's Leilani Storms. Leia is an ice creating, invisibility power using SHIELD agent with a healing touch. Having witnessed Loki's siege on the facility in New Mexico and the enslaving of her friend Clint Barton's mind, Leia's no short of angered. She wants nothing more than to stab Loki with an icicle that comes out of the palm of her own hand. Maybe she'll get that chance... Who knows? Anyway, Leia has other things to do before she can focus on getting revenge on the God of Mischief. She first has to travel to London in order to retrieve her sister to help in battling the Tesseract/Loki crisis. Then she must explain to the super soldier she's been helping adjust to modern times why she didn't mention the fact that she even had any siblings. There's something about Leia that intrigues Steve like nothing ever has before. He just can't quite figure out what it is. With everything that's about to happen, maybe the Captain can pinpoint the reason why this woman seems to be drawing him in. In short, Steve basically sets himself upon a mission to try and figure out the woman of whom they call **_Frost Phantom_**.

Next, there's Camellia Storms. Cami is a fire wielding, forcefield using SHIELD agent with a telekinetic mind. She's blonde, beautiful and badass. With what Russian she knows, Cami is with the famous Black Widow as they try and talk their way out of a situation involving an idiotic Russian general and his thugs. However, the time for conversation comes to a halt when Natasha and Cami receive a phone call from Phil Coulson, informing them of Agent Barton being compromised. The two women decide that there's been enough talk and just fight their way through the Russian men before Coulson sends each of them off to a different part of the world. Natasha having to go to a place she'd rather not go to and talk to a person she'd rather not talk to while Cami is sent to India to speak to none other than Dr. Bruce Banner. Bruce is definitely surprised when this unfamiliar woman shows up to convince him to come in and help them find the Tesseract. A task which he is very wary of. However, when he does reluctantly go with Cami, he finds that things might not be so bad after all. He's brought in to work on something that involves a subject matter that no one knows better than he does. Not only that, he also gets to do it in the company of a nice and beautiful woman. Although, Bruce doesn't take Cami being there anymore than what it is. Her job. Her order to keep an eye on him. However, a certain billionaire has to point out to the adorkable scientist that the gorgeous and deadly agent watching him might just be enjoying herself more than she's letting on. Through everything, Cami has to make Bruce realize that she isn't gonna let him be alone. That she wants to help him feel better about who he is. And maybe Bruce will realize that he isn't the only one that has to battle their demons. In the end, can the **_Phoenix_** tame Bruce's other side?

Thirdly, there's Amaranth Storms. Mara is an air bending, elasticity able-bodied woman who has reflexes that are the fastest of anyone in the world. She has no love or want of the dangerous and fast paced life her two sisters are living. She's only a consultant for SHIELD. She does not want to be called in unless it is absolutely necessary. So, you can imagine Mara's surprise when she comes home after a night out with her boyfriend to find that Leia, a sister she hardly ever sees, has made herself right at home at the dining table as she drinks from her wine collection. Leia will have to convince Mara to come in and offer up her abilities to help in the daunting task of stopping Loki and retrieving the Tesseract. Mara, the woman they call **_Pandora_** , will have to make peace with the fact that she may never be able to truly be free of the superhero life and that it'll always call her back at some point.

And lastly, there's Desiree Fury. And yes, you read that right. _Fury_. Desiree is the adopted daughter of SHIELD Director Nick Fury. She's someone that Nick doesn't exactly like to talk about. The reason? Well, Desiree is... not the best person. I mean, that's how people view her. She did some bad things that garnered her a reputation of being someone that you definitely don't wanna get too close to. That's why she was locked up in SHIELD's most secure detainment facility. A place that she absolutely loathes. She's angered that her father had her put there despite what it did to his conscience. I mean, she's his daughter. Imagine what that did to him. So, what does Desiree do when Natasha shows up to recruit her? Well, she's definitely intrigued. She and Miss Romanoff do not get along. At all. However, they do understand each other. They understand that you need to do what you have to do in order to get the job done. Because here's the thing: Desiree is smart. She has skills that are a good and wanted asset, despite her being a risky and unstable playing card. This woman is so conniving that she may even be able to trick the Trickster himself. She's someone that Loki does not expect. She surprises him. And based on how intriguing and treacherous she can be, Loki will definitely be enjoying himself. After all, he is the God of Mischief. And through everything, he will learn why Desiree is known as **_Black Rose_**.


	2. Cast

" _We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos._ " - Dr. Bruce Banner

* * *

 **C A S T**

 _Natalie Dormer_ as Desiree Fury

(Black Rose)

~o0o~

 _Holland Roden_ as Leilani "Leia" Storms

(Frost Phantom)

~o0o~

 _Sara Paxton_ as Camellia "Cami" Storms

(Phoenix)

~o0o~

 _Nina Dobrev_ as Amaranth "Mara" Storms

(Pandora)

~o0o~

 _Tom Hiddleston_ as Tom Hiddleston/Loki Laufeyson

~o0o~

 _Chris Evans_ as Steve Rogers

(Captain America)

~o0o~

 _Mark Ruffalo_ as Bruce Banner

(Hulk)

~o0o~

 _Robert Downey Jr._ as Tony Stark

(Iron Man)

~o0o~

 _Scarlett Johansson_ as Natasha "Nat" Romanoff

(Black Widow)

~o0o~

 _Jeremy Renner_ as Clint Barton

(Hawkeye)

~o0o~

 _Chris Hemsworth_ as Thor Odinson

~o0o~

 _Samuel L. Jackson_ as Nick Fury

* * *

 **Pairings:**

~ (Steve Rogers x OC)

~ (Bruce Banner x OC)

~ (Loki Laufeyson x OC)


	3. Character Profiles

DESIREE FURY

 **Age:** _36_

 **Date of birth:** _May 4, 1976_

 **Full name:** _Desiree Noelle Fury_

 **Alias:** _Black Rose_

 **Father:** _Unknown_ ( _biological_ ), _Nick Fury_ ( _adoptive_ )

 **Mother:** _Unknown_

 **Abilities:** _Regenerative Healing Factor_ , _Decelerated Aging_

 **Portrayed by:** _Natalie Dormer_

~o0o~

LEIA STORMS

 **Age:** _29_

 **Date of birth:** _March 10, 1983_

 **Full name:** _Leilani Alice Storms_

 **Alias:** _Frost Phantom_

 **Father:** _Christopher Storms_ – [ _deceased_ ]

 **Mother:** _Violet Storms_ ( _née Hale_ ) – [ _deceased_ ]

 **Siblings:** _Camellia Storms_ , _Amaranth Storms_

 **Abilities:** _Ice/Water Manipulation_ , _Invisibility_ , _Healing_ , _Flight_

 **Portrayed by:** _Holland Roden_

~o0o~

CAMI STORMS

 **Age:** _29_

 **Date of birth:** _March 10, 1983_

 **Full name:** _Camellia Isabel Storms_

 **Alias:** _Phoenix_

 **Father:** _Christopher Storms_ – [ _deceased_ ]

 **Mother:** _Violet Storms_ ( _née Hale_ ) – [ _deceased_ ]

 **Siblings:** _Leilani Storms_ , _Amaranth Storms_

 **Abilities:** _Fire Manipulation_ , _Force-Field Generation_ , _Telekinesis_ , _Flight_

 **Portrayed by:** _Sara Paxton_

~o0o~

MARA STORMS

 **Age:** _29_

 **Date of birth:** _March 10, 1983_

 **Full name:** _Amaranth Penelope Storms_

 **Alias:** _Pandora_

 **Father:** _Christopher Storms_ – [ _deceased_ ]

 **Mother:** _Violet Storms_ ( _née Hale_ ) – [ _deceased_ ]

 **Siblings:** _Camellia Storms_ , _Leilani Storms_

 **Abilities:** _Elasticity_ , _Reflex Manipulation_ , _Air Manipulation_ , _Flight_

 **Portrayed by:** _Nina Dobrev_


	4. Welcome Back, Cap (Prologue)

" ** _There's a curve ball, high outside. So, the Dodgers are tied four to four._** " That was the first thing Steve heard as he awoke, his eyes fluttering open.

" ** _And the crowd knows, with one swing of his bat, this fella is capable of making it a brand new game again._** " Steve looked around, finding himself in a 1940's hospital as the ceiling fan spun above him.

" ** _Just an absolutely gorgeous day here at Ebbets Field. The Philly's have managed to tie it up four to four, but the Dodgers have three men on._** " The man on the radio relayed as Steve slowly and cautiously sat up, putting his legs over the side of the bed.

" ** _Pitch... it's a strike. He leans in, here's the pitch, swung on... it's a line drive. It gets past Grissom. Rizzo will score, Reiser heads to third. Durocher is going to wave him in. They look to relay but they hold steady. Pete Reiser with an inside the park..._** " Steve turned his head back to look at and listen to the radio, a curious look on his face. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening.

"Good morning." A red-haired, hazel-eyed nurse greeted as she entered the room, shutting the door behind her. "Or should I say good afternoon."

"Where am I?" Steve asked as he looked at her.

"You're in a recovery room in New York City." She answered calmly, folding her hands in front of her.

" ** _The Dodgers take the lead, it's eight to four. Oh ho, Dodgers!_** " The man on the radio said as the game kept playing. " ** _What a game we have here today, folks. Fine game indeed._** "

Steve looked at the woman suspiciously. "...Where am I really?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand." She replied, taking a cautious step forward.

"The game, it's from May, nineteen forty-one. I know because I was there." He told her, getting up from the bed and approaching her. "Now, I'm gonna ask you again. Where am I?"

"Captain Rogers, do you want to think about taking a step back?" She asked, trying to be calm despite how she was slightly freaking out on the inside.

"Who are you?" He asked again more forcefully just before two soldiers in black uniforms entered the room.

 **~o0o~**

CRASH!

The two soldiers came crashing through the wall before Steve came running out through the brand new hole that was now in the wall. He looked around, finding that he was on some kind of made up set before running out of there.

"Captain Rogers, wait!" The woman that he had first seen came rushing out before pulling out a walkie-talkie. "All agents, code 13."

 **~o0o~**

" _...13. All agents, code 13._ " The woman's voice resonated throughout the facility as Steve began running, knocking a couple agents over in the process as they tried to stop him.

 **~o0o~**

"Dammit." Agent Leilani Storms muttered as she tossed the walkie-talkie aside, taking off that irritating tie before taking off and flying (literally) after the now very confused Captain America.

 **~o0o~**

Steve ran out of the facility, ignoring any glances people gave him as he ran past them. He didn't even stop running until he found himself in New York City's famous Time Square. He looked around in shock, trying to absorb everything. That happening just as numerous SUVs then encircled him, a certain Director stepping out of one of them immediately after.

"At ease, soldier." Nick Fury greeted as he walked up to him. "Look, I'm sorry about that little show back there. But we thought it best to break it to you slowly."

"Break what?" Steve questioned as he breathed in from his running.

"You've been asleep, Cap... For almost seventy years." He explained calmly.

"Welcome to 2011, Captain Rogers." Leilani's voice said from above, making Steve look up to see her floating ever so gracefully down to the ground. He looked for some kind of jet pack that would help her do that sort of thing, but couldn't find one anywhere on her.

What the hell?

Steve kinda spaced out as her feet came to be planted firmly on the ground right next to Director Fury.

Fury took notice the spaced out look on Steve's face before glancing at Leilani.

"Nice, Agent. I think you broke him." He told her before turning his head to look back at the Captain.

Leilani just smirked, not taking her eyes off Steve. "I think he's gonna be just fine..."

 **~o0o~**

That's how they found themselves here, in Director Fury's office at SHIELD HQ in Washington DC.

"I have to go talk to the World Security Council." Director Fury informed as he stood up from his desk. "Agent Storms, will you catch the Captain up on what you'll be doing?"

"Of course, sir." Leilani replied, standing up from a chair on the other side of his desk.

Fury gave a curt nod before rounding his desk and heading for the door, his long coat swishing behind him.

Steve waited till Fury was out of the room before turning to look back at Leilani. "What exactly are we doing?"

"Well, Captain, you've been... away for a while." She replied as she began walking over to the kitchenette on the other side of the spacious office. "It's gonna be a bit of a process, but you're gonna have to get used to living in the twenty-first century."

Steve nodded slowly. "And how are we going to go about doing that?"

"Tea?" Leilani offered as she turned around and walked back over to him, not answering his question.

"Sure. Thank you." Steve accepted the steaming mug she held out to him. He took a sip as he watched her sit back down across from him.

"You're welcome." Leilani smiled. "Now, as for how we're going to go about helping you adjust to this time period, we can do a number of things. First, we'll catch you up on the history that you've missed in these last seventy years. I think by doing that, it will help you understand today's time a little bit better. Everything that I'm going to be helping you with is going to take time, but trust me, it will definitely be beneficial."

Steve nodded and set the mug down on the table. "I'm sorry... I don't even know your name. If you're going to be the one to bring me up to speed, I should at least know something to call you other than Agent Storms."

Leilani smiled at him. "It's Leilani. Leilani Storms. It's very nice to meet you, Captain."

"Please, ma'am, call me Steve." He told her.

"Okay, Steve." She nodded. "And please, don't call me ma'am. Leilani is good. I go by Leia most of the time though, if you prefer that."

"Leia..." Steve noted, nodding his head thoughtfully before meeting her gaze again. "Well then, Leia, where do we start?..."

 **~o0o~**

"Now..." Leia began as she and Steve sat at the kitchen island in her DC apartment, eating some take-out. "Seventy years may seem like a long time to be asleep, and true, it definitely is. But, seventy years is just a tiny chunk of all the history that our world has been through. And so much has happened to Earth from 1945 to 2011. Like for instance, would you like to know how World War 2 officially ended?"

Steve nodded eagerly. "Of course. They did say that we won. I get that. But how?"

Steve curiousness made Leia smile. "Well, there's sort of two answers to the question itself. World War 2 ended with the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers. On May 8, 1945, the Allies accepted Germany's surrender, about a week after Adolf Hitler had committed suicide. That's known as VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day. But, obviously that was just over in Europe. The end of World War 2 in Asia occurred on the 14th and 15th of August 1945, when armed forces of the Empire of Japan surrendered to the forces of the Allied Powers. The surrender came just over three months after the surrender of the Axis forces in Europe. They surrendered because of what happened not even ten days before that."

"What happened?" He asked curiously, taking a bite of his Chow Mein.

"On August 6, 1945; an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima from a B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay. It was the first use of atomic weapons in combat. And then not even four days after that, on August 9, 1945; a more powerful plutonium implosion atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki from a different Silverplate B-29 named Bockscar."

Steve was quiet for a moment. "...How many?"

Knowing what he meant, Leia sighed. "Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki; roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day. It may not have been the best way to end a war, but it certainly did the trick. As sad as that sounds."

"Yeah." Steve mumbled in agreement, taking a sip of his drink before setting it back down on the kitchen island's countertop. "You seem to know a lot of details from history."

"I have a Master's degree in World History." Leia shrugged as used her chopsticks to eat a bite of rice.

"And yet you're a SHIELD agent." Steve commented.

"Eh, it's good to have something to fall back on." She said, taking a sip of her drink.

Steve laughed at that. "Please, tell me more."

Leia smiled. "Alright. Why don't we move on to the Korean War..."

And that's how the rest of that day went. Leia told Steve about all sorts of things. Like the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the assassination of JFK, the Cold War and the Berlin Wall going up and going down, even the horrific and terrible attacks on the World Trade Canter on 9/11.

 **~o0o~**

"Who's this?" Steve questioned one day as he was looking at a picture of a man in a Sergeant's uniform hanging on the wall in Leia's entryway.

Leia poked her head in the entryway from where she had been in the kitchen. She smiled gently when she saw what he was looking at.

"That was my dad. Sergeant Christopher Storms. He gave eight years of his life and fought in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1973."

"I bet he was a good man." Steve commented quietly.

Leia smiled sadly. "Yeah, he was... You know, he actually met my mother during his last days over there. He helped her escape from a hidden HYDRA base near Ho Chi Minh City. HYDRA mostly died with the Red Skull. My dad and few others finding that hidden HYDRA base was just a freak thing. Don't know if there are any others hidden anywhere else in the world. And to be truthful, I don't really want to find out."

"So..." Steve said slowly, turning to look at Leia. "Your mother escaped from HYDRA?"

"She did." Leia nodded. "How do you think I'm like this?"

Steve watched in amazement as Leia turned invisible before reappearing and making an icicle come out of the palm of her hand.

"They experimented on my mother and gave her all sorts of abilities." She explained. "That therefore modified her DNA, which then allowed her to pass down some of her abilities to me when I was born. I didn't choose to be like this. But when SHIELD came knocking... turns out these powers can be good for something."

 **~o0o~**

"Now, Steve..." Leia began one evening as she and Steve sat on the couch in her living room. "Before you head back to your place in a bit, let me show you a wonderful thing called Netflix."

"What's a... Netflix?" Steve questioned curiously, watching as Leia grabbed the remote and turned on her TV.

She laughed. "Not a Netflix. Just Netflix. It's an internet video streaming service that allows you to watch as many tv shows and movies as you want for around eight dollars a month."

Steve watched as the end credit's of Sherlock's "The Blind Banker" rolled across the screen a short time later.

"Okay, that was pretty good." Steve admitted, glancing at Leia. "But people really just spend hours at a time watching pictures on a screen?"

"Yes... it's called binging. Don't be a judge." She smiled brightly before turning her head to begin playing "The Great Game".

 **~o0o~**

"Coming!" Leia called out as she rushed to her door at 5:00 AM one morning as someone was knocking on it from the other side. She looked through the peephole and smiled before opening the door to reveal Steve dressed in his running clothes.

"Up for a run around the National Mall?" Steve asked, leaning against her doorframe.

"Of course." Leia smiled brightly, grabbing her phone and keys off the entryway table and walking right out and locking her apartment door since she had already been ready for Steve's arrival. "And don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

She smirked before taking off down the hallway and down the stairs, Steve laughing softly as he chased after her.

Two can play at that game.

 **~o0o~**

"Thank you." Leia said as Steve helped her with her groceries after getting back from the supermarket.

"No problem at all." He replied, setting a couple of bags down on her kitchen island.

"Well, one thing's for sure. I don't need to teach you how be a gentleman. I believe you have that covered all on your own. Although, you might be able to teach today's men how be gentlemen. True gentlemen are few and far between now-a-days." Leia said as she opened the fridge to put the milk inside. "I should know that more than anyone..."

Not hearing her last comment, Steve pulled out a giant bag of chocolate chips. "Woah... What are you gonna use these for?"

Leia turned around and giggled. "I bought a giant bag of those because I'm going to bake a bunch of chocolate chip cookies and take them down to the VA tomorrow. I do that every once in a while."

"Man, if Director Fury hadn't told me to come in tomorrow, I'd go with you." Steve said a bit disappointedly.

Leia smiled reassuringly. "Maybe some other time."

With that she and Steve began taking various things out of the bags and putting them in their correct places as they went through yet another day of twenty-first century life.


	5. Chapter 1: At War

"Okay, okay, try and catch it this time."

"What are you talking about? I caught it last time."

"No, you used an arrow like a dart to embed it against the wall over there. Which, by the way, will not bode well with Fury should he find out."

Clint Barton glared at Leilani Storms as he looked at her while she held another grape in between her thumb and index finger. Both agents sat across from each other, wearing black tactical gear while occasionally looking over the railing to watch the flurry of activity down below in the vast lab facility as various agents and scientists went about their business while the Tesseract was being held by a Compact Muon Solenoid coil chamber in the middle of the room.

"Come on, Leia, it's a sign of a good archer." Clint pointed out. "Accuracy. So accurate in fact, that I was able to hit a grape with an arrow using my bare hand."

"Need I remind you that you're the only archer we know." Leia told him as she got ready to throw a grape into his mouth.

"Technicality." He waved her off, glancing over the railing and watching as Dr. Erik Selvig was taking notes of the Tesseract as it glowed a bit brighter than usual while flare rings shot out at random.

"Strange, isn't it?" Leia questioned as she took note of the Tesseract as it shot out another random flare ring. "Almost like it's having a mind of it's own."

"Maybe it does." Clint shrugged before turning back to her and opening his mouth. "Now, come on."

Leia just giggled, shaking her head before tossing the grape towards her friend and watching as he effortlessly caught it in his mouth, chewing it with a smug look on his face.

"You just amuse yourself, don't you?" Leia rolled her eyes before tossing a grape into her own mouth.

"Maybe." Clint shrugged. "How about you, though? How are things with you going? Haven't seen you much the past few months. Fury been keeping you busy?"

"Ha!" Leia laughed out loud at that last question. "Now, that is an understatement. Between going to whichever part of the world he sends me to on a mission and helping the Captain adjust to this time period, I don't think I ever get a free moment."

"Speaking of America's golden boy: how are things going with that?" Clint asked her. "You've known and been helping him for around a year now. Any plans on you becoming Mrs America anytime soon?"

Leia rolled her eyes, throwing a grape at him and hitting him in the forehead. "Well, you would know if you'd ever take up any of the various offers I've given you to come and meet the man."

"You always ask me at the worst possible times!" He objected.

"Do not." She scoffed.

"Oh, really?" He asked challengingly. "Last time you asked me, I was right in the middle of a fight, taking down a gang of smugglers in Istanbul."

"True." Leia conceded. "But, you didn't have to answer your phone right in the middle of everything."

"Eh." He shrugged. "I like to multitask."

"Whatever." She chuckled. "To answer your question, however, no. There are no plans whatsoever of me marrying the man who was unfrozen from a block of ice after almost seventy years. We're just friends."

"For now." Clint stated, making Leia roll her eyes before she and the teasing archer glanced back over the railing to gaze down at all the activity below. However, their thoughts were soon interrupted by a certain Director's voice coming in through their earpieces.

" _Agent Barton, Agent Storms, report._ "

The duo let their gazes drift over to where they saw Dr. Selvig standing, Director Nick Fury standing right next to him.

Clint and Leia shared a look before Clint went and rappelled down to the floor below while Leia just went ahead and used her power of flight to oh-so gracefully float down to the ground floor, her and Clint then walking alongside each other as they walked up to where Fury was.

"I gave you two this detail so you could keep a close eye on things." Fury stated as the three of them began walking around the lab facility in a discreet manner.

"Well, we tend to see better from a distance." Clint replied.

Fury let out an almost inaudible huff. "Oh yes, throwing grapes into your partner's mouth seems to be doing the job very well."

" _So, he did see that._ " Leia thought to herself.

"Look, it doesn't matter right now." Fury continued. "Are either of you seeing anything that might set this thing off?"

"Well, we actually have kept a bit of an eye on it." Leia spoke up as she and the two men came to stand behind where the Tesseract was being held. "I mean, no one has come or gone. We've done background checks on everyone here. Especially Selvig, and he's clean. There've been no contacts, no IM's. I think it's safe to say that if there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."

Fury quirked an eyebrow. "At this end?"

"Wait, wait, I think I get it." Clint chimed in; he, Fury and Leia not noticing Dr. Selvig stop typing away at a keyboard as a look of immense worry crossed his face. "The cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? So, that would mean that the doors open from both sides."

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, the Tesseract thundered and shook the entire lab facility; surely making everyone who was at SHIELD's Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S facility feel the significant tremor, regardless of what end of the facility they were at.

The flaring rings and glow of the cube began to spout out higher and louder, almost like a boiling pot of water.

The Tesseract's energy then built itself up into a beam, which hit at the end of a platform that was wired to a CMS device. The great maelstrom beam then fired the Tesseract energy. It quickly formed a vortex, which then opened up a portal. The portal itself then created a black hole.

It was almost beautiful, though. I mean, from the portal you could actually see the surely infinite blackness of space. So mysterious.

Remember, though, it was beautiful. It was strewn with a billion stars. One of the universe's great wonders.

However, a gust of blue energy clouds then filled the room, blinding everyone. The Tesseract's energy soon formed into a cloud that reached to the top of the facility's vacuum chamber ceiling.

All was quiet. Abnormally quiet.

Until...

Heavy breathing was heard, coming from the platform.

A few SHIELD guards slowly and cautiously began approaching, weapons in hand.

A figure seemed to be kneeling on the platform, smoke coming off it.

It was a man.

A raven-haired man in some sort of green armor with a few gold accents. He looked up from staring down at where he had landed, a mischievous smile on his face. The smile soon died down, though.

The man let his gaze travel around the room before it landed on Fury, Leia, Clint and Dr. Selvig. He looked deep into their eyes as he stood up, holding some sort of scepter.

Fury took a step forward. "Sir, put down the spear!"

The man glanced at the scepter he held in his hand before quickly pointing it where Fury, Leia and Clint were standing and shooting out a blue exploding light towards them.

Clint quickly tackled Fury down to the floor as Leia used her flight power to shoot up into the air, all three of them barely missing the man's fired shot.

It was at this moment that all hell broke loose.

Leia quickly took her gun out of her thigh holster while shooting an icicle out of the palm of her other hand, barely missing the man's arm.

Machine gun fire broke out, shooting at the man. However, all the bullets seemed to bounce off him.

As the man jumped high from the platform and attacked those firing at him, Leia kept shooting in his direction as she tried and ignored all the agents dying around her. She had healing power, but couldn't bring someone back to life if they were already dead.

People were dying too quickly, so it didn't matter. Leia just kept dodging the energy blasts the man was firing as she returned bullet fire of her own, even though it didn't seem to be doing much good at all.

It seemed like almost in the blink of an eye the man had taken down several guards with his knives and energy blasts from the scepter. He then suddenly stopped, making Leia halt her flying and shooting as she came to hover in the air.

No one moved. Not a single person. The man seemed to be waiting to see who would try and attack him next.

Everything and everyone there had gone silent. The whole lab around them was now laying there in disarray.

Clint tried to stand up as the man walked towards him, Clint raising his gun before the man quickly grabbed his hand to stop him; Leia taking that moment of not being watched to holster her gun and use her invisibility power to disappear out of sight.

"You have heart." He spoke softly before pointing the head of his scepter at Clint's chest, his eyes then suddenly glowing blue.

The ability to control Clint's mind was now in the man's hand.

Clint then holstered his gun before standing straight as the man began busying himself with using his abilities to control the minds of several SHIELD personnel.

Fury, using the opportunity of the man not watching him, took the Tesseract and placed it back into its case before trying to leave the lab.

At least he tried to until...

"Please don't." The man spoke, turning around to face him. "I still need that."

Fury slowly turned back around to face the man. "This doesn't have to get any messier."

"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else." The man informed him. "I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

"Loki?" Dr. Selvig questioned, stepping forward. "Brother of Thor?"

"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury tried to tell him.

Loki let a slight smirk cross his face. "An ant has no quarrel with a boot."

"Well then, Asgardian," Leia's sweet voice whispered in Loki's ear. "are you trying to say that you're planning to step on us?"

Loki chuckled darkly. "Oh, please, darling, would you be so kind as to reappear and show yourself so that I may look into the face of my next victim?"

"With pleasure." She hissed before Loki suddenly felt an arm around his neck and very cold ice blade against his neck as Leia reappeared behind him.

"Oh, things are getting rather fun now, aren't they?" Loki smirked.

"Why are you here?" Leia asked, tightening her arm around his neck.

"You need not worry, little one, I come with glad tidings." Loki stated. "Tidings of a world made free."

"Free from what?" Fury questioned as he looked at Loki, all the while keeping a close eye on Leia as she continued to hold her ice blade against the god's throat.

"Freedom." Loki replied. "For freedom is life's great lie. And once you know that, in your heart..." He trailed off before effortlessly using a bit of magic to flip and throw Leia over his shoulder and make her slide across the floor until she came to land a few feet in front of where Fury stood. He then, like a gunslinger, then turned around to face Dr. Selvig and place the head of his scepter against his heart, making his eyes glow blue. "You will know peace."

Leia groaned in slight pain as she rolled over on the floor and propped herself up slightly as Fury stood behind her.

Fury slowly looked up from Leia and glared at Loki. "Yeah... You know, when you say peace, I kind of think you mean the other thing."

"What was your first clue?" Leia grunted, rolling her eyes as she got to her feet.

Above everyone, from the vacuum chamber ceiling, the Tesseract's energy cloud rapidly built into what would probably end up being an implosion.

Clint looked up at the vacuum chamber ceiling before looking back down and walking over to where Loki was. "Sir, Director Fury and and Agent Storms are stalling. This place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of rock on us. They mean to bury us."

"Like the Pharaohs of old." Fury confirmed as Leia backed up to stand right beside him.

"He's right." Dr. Selvig chimed in as he looked at a monitor. "The portal is collapsing in on itself. You've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

"'Tis a shame." Loki sighed, looking to Leia. "I would've enjoyed having you along for the ride."

Loki then looked to Clint, nodding in Leia's and Fury's direction.

Not even hesitating, Clint grabbed his gun and shot Fury, making him fall to the ground. He then quickly shot Leia, hitting her in the shoulder, making her fall backwards to the floor.

Clint then quickly went and grabbed the case containing the Tesseract before leaving the lab with Loki, Dr. Selvig and the other SHIELD personnel Loki was controlling.

Breathing heavily, Leia shakily sat up as her left shoulder bled, staining the black tactical gear she was wearing. She weakly reached over to her left shoulder with her right hand and pulled the bullet out before placing her hand on top of the bleeding gunshot wound, healing it.

"Fantastic." She grumbled, rolling her shoulder back and wincing at the immense soreness it now had.

 **~o0o~**

Loki, Clint, Dr. Selvig and the other SHIELD personnel walked into the bunker of the P.E.G.A.S.U.S facility where various vehicles were parked.

The group quickly gathered certain weapons, Agent Maria Hill watching in confusion as she looked at Loki.

Clint looked to Maria and pointed to a car and a truck. "Need these vehicles."

"Who's that?" She questioned, nodding at Loki.

"Didn't tell me." He replied as he the others headed for the vehicles.

Maria looked at them suspiciously as they got into the truck and car. She turned to leave, but as she was walking away...

" _Hill, do you copy?!_ " Fury's voice come through Maria's walkie talkie, making Loki and Clint turn sharply to look at Maria. Loki scowled as he halted getting into the bed (the back) of the truck.

 **~o0o~**

Back in the lab, Fury was sitting up as Leia healed his bullet wound.

Fury breathed heavily as he spoke into walkie talkie. "Barton... has turned."

 **~o0o~**

Suddenly, Maria turned to shoot at Clint, but said man was already pointing his gun at her as he started shooting. He quickly moved backwards and hopped into the driver's seat of the truck and drove off, Loki smirking evilly as Maria kept shooting at them.

 **~o0o~**

Back in the lab, Fury and Leia were running towards the exit of the vacuum chamber, Fury limping slightly from the soreness in his side.

"Hill, get in a vehicle and go after them!" Leia shouted into her walkie talkie. "They have the Tesseract, shut them down!"

Leia and Fury continued to run to try and get out of there as the energy was really brewing up something fierce from the vacuum chamber ceiling.

 **~o0o~**

Maria quickly slipped into a Jeep and followed after Clint's truck as it screeched across the tunnel they were all speeding in.

Several SHIELD trucks then pulled up to join Maria as a sort of drive-by shooting ensued.

Loki, who stood on top of the bed of the truck, used his scepter to emit energy blasts to flip over the SHIELD trucks as Maria put herself at a distance.

 **~o0o~**

Leia and Fury raced out of the hallway of the facility floor while they tried avoiding being hit by falling pipes as the entire P.E.G.A.S.U.S facility was now in a full earthquake.

 **~o0o~**

Agent Phil Coulson and several SHIELD agents fell down the steps, dropping silver cases of information. They attempted to grab them, but...

"No! Just leave it!" Phil told them before they ran out of there like bats outta Hell.

 **~o0o~**

Maria's Jeep roared after Clint's truck, pulling up alongside him on the left. She quickly pulled way ahead of him and pulled her breaks, swerving into a 360, facing Clint's truck and driving in reverse.

Clint's arms reached out of the open window and opened fire on Maria, said woman growling in irritation before just thinking 'screw it' and shooting her windshield and opening fire on Clint.

 **~o0o~**

Phil quickly jumped into a SHIELD van while speaking into his walkie talkie.

"You're clear upstairs! Sir, Agent Storms, you need to go!"

 **~o0o~**

Fury and Leia bolted out of the facility and quickly jumped into a helicopter just before the surface of the pad gave way, plunging the helicopter through the surface.

But... the chopper did make it out, albeit barley.

 **~o0o~**

Still in a chase and a drive-by sequence, Clint pushed the pedal harder, which caused Maria's Jeep to wobble out and put her back behind.

 **~o0o~**

The Tesseract's energy cloud now shrunk into a small ball of white light before a cloud of blue light consumed the entire P.E.G.A.S.U.S facility and parts of the New Mexico desert as Leia and Fury watched from the windows of their helicopter.

 **~o0o~**

Phil's van also felt a jolt of the Tesseract's blastwave as the entire P.E.G.A.S.U.S facility swallowed in on itself as a terrifying, unimaginable implosion occurred.

 **~o0o~**

The blastwave of the Tesseract caused the tunnel to harshly cave in.

Like an ocean wave, blinding crumbles of rock fell onto Maria's Jeep, leaving her nearly trapped under the blanket of rock.

 **~o0o~**

In Clint's truck, they escaped the tunnel and drove into New Mexico's desert landscape. But...

Leia and Fury's helicopter suddenly roared over Clint's truck, making Loki look up from where he stood in the bed of the truck to see the chopper's door slide open.

Fury stood there, holding a gun as Leia stood there holding an icicle in each hand. The duo started quickly firing, Fury shooting his gun while Leia shot out her icicle's.

Clint, unaware of what Leia was doing, swerved the truck when an icicle suddenly shot through his open window, hitting and shattering the closed window on the passenger side where Dr. Selvig was.

Loki looked up at Fury and Leia in a fit of rage before pointing his scepter and shooting out the blue light, making the chopper catch on fire.

Like the badasses they were, Fury and Leia jumped out and touched down onto the desert floor as the helicopter went down in a fiery ball of flame, barreling along the ground.

Leia and Fury, coming back to their senses, fired at Loki. But alas, they were already too far away. Too late.

With their minds reeling, uneasiness and anger filled thoughts began to consume them. Their thoughts were only interrupted as Phil's voice came in through their walkie talkies.

" _Director? Agent Storms? Both of you, do you copy?_ "

"The Tesseract is now with the hostile force." Leia spoke into her walkie talkie. "We also have men down. What about you, Hill?"

 **~o0o~**

Maria climbed out of her Jeep, which was sandwiched in, but luckily not her.

"A lot of men still under." She spoke into her walkie talkie. "Don't know how many survivors."

 **~o0o~**

"Sound the general call." Fury spoke into his walkie talkie as he and Leia stared out at the darkness of the New Mexico desert at nighttime. "I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."

" _Roger that._ " Maria's voice came in through the walkie talkies.

"Coulson, get back to base." Fury ordered. "This is a level seven. As of right now, we are at war."

" _What do we do?_ " Phil's voice came in through the walkie talkies.

Fury stood there for a moment, thinking. He then glanced at Leia, seeing her gazing at him with her own look of question.

Fury then looked from Leia and up to the night sky above them, the stars shining brightly as he held a look of hope upon his face.

~o0o~

 ** _THE AVENGERS_**


	6. Chapter 2: Assembling the Avengers

Natasha Romanoff and Camellia Storms sat next to each other as they were tied to a couple of chairs on the 3rd floor of a still in construction building on the outskirts of Silensky Plaza in Russia. The building itself was being occupied by Georgi Luchkov, a large Russian general along with his thugs as they were interrogating Natasha and Cami.

A couple of tall thugs were in the middle of a brutal beating on the two women as they backhanded their faces. Natasha and Cami did feel the pain, but did not break down.

General Luchkov smiled as he walked up to the two women.

"Eto ne to, kak ya khotel, chtoby etot vecher proshel. ( _This is not how I wanted this evening to go._ )" Luchkov stated as he spoke to them in Russian.

"My znayem, kak vy khoteli, chtoby etot vecher proshel. Pover' mne, eto luchshe. ( _We know how you wanted this evening to go. Believe me, this is better._ )" Natasha told him.

"Dlya kogo vy rabotayete? Lementov, da? ( _Who are you working for? Lementov, yes?_ )" Luchkov enquired as he walked back and forth in front Natasha and Cami. "Dumayet li on, chto my dolzhny proyti cherez nego, chtoby peremestit' nash gruz? ( _Does he think we have to go through him to move our cargo?_ )"

"Znayesh', smeshno, mne povezlo, chto general Solokhob otvechal za eksportnyy biznes. ( _You know, it's funny, I was lead to believe that General Solohob was in charge of the export business._ )" Cami finally spoke up, using what Russian Natasha had taught her since they had began occasionally going on missions together.

Luchkov smirked at her. "I kto vy snova? YA ne dumayu, chto my vstretilis'. ( _And who are you again? I don't believe we've met._ )" He halted as he came to stand right in front of her. "YA uveren, chto vspomnyu, yesli by u nas bylo. Vy ochen' pokhozhi na moyu pervuyu zhenu, pust' ona uspokoitsya. ( _I'm sure I'd remember if we had. You do look a lot like my first wife, may she rest in peace._ )" He stated as he tucked a strand of Cami's blonde hair behind her ear, making her glare at him before he took a step back. "No dostatochno nebol'shoy razgovor. Chtoby otvetit' na vash vopros, net. Solokhob - prosto bagman. Pered vami, yesli khotite. Pokhozhe, eta ustarevshaya informatsiya predayet vas. YA by podumal, chto krasivyye i umnyye zhenshchiny, takiye kak vy, ne toropites', chtoby poluchit' vashi fakty pryamo. ( _But enough of the small talk. To answer your question, no. Solohob is merely a bagman. A front, if you will. It seems that this outdated information is betraying you. I would think that beautiful and intelligent women such as yourselves would take the time to get your facts straight._ )"

Natasha tilted her head slightly. "Vy deystvitel'no dumayete, chto my prekrasny? ( _You really think that we're beautiful?_ )"

Luchkov didn't answer as he turned to slowly walk over to a table filled with tools. He picked up a pair of pliers as the two thugs opened up Natasha's and Cami's mouths as wide as they would go, both women struggling against their grip.

"Skazhite, chto Lementov nam ne nuzhen, chtoby peremestit' tanki. ( _Tell Lementov we don't need him to move the tanks._ )" Luchkov stated as he opened and closed the pliers, testing them out. "Skazhi yemu, chto on ushel. ( _Tell him he is out._ )" He instructed as he turned back around to face Natasha and Cami with the pliers in his hands. "Skazhite yemu, nu ... you may have to write it down. ( _Tell him, well... you may have to write it down._ )"

As Luchkov started to approach Natasha and Cami, another one of his thug's cellphone began ringing, making everyone look to him. Confused, the man answered his phone.

"Da? ( _Yes?_ )" He greeted, waiting a moment before walking over to Luchkov as he gestured to Cami and Natasha. "Eto dlya nikh. ( _It's for them._ )"

Irritated, Luchkov snatched the phone away from him and put it to his ear before he began to speak. "Vy slushayete vnimatel'no - ( _You listen carefully–_ )"

" _You're at 1-14 Silensky Plaza, third floor._ " Phil Coulson's voice cut him off as it came through the phone. " _We have an F-22 exactly eight miles out. Put the women on the phone or I will blow up the block before you can make the lobby._ "

Not even protesting, Luchkov quickly placed the cellphone against Natasha's ear, seeing how she and Cami were tied to chairs with their hands behind their backs.

" _We need you and Phoenix to come in._ " Phil told Natasha.

"Are you kidding?" Natasha scoffed. "We're working!"

" _This takes precedence._ " Phil immediately replied.

Cami rolled her eyes before just using her telekinesis power to take the phone from Natasha and levitate it over to herself and against her ear, all the while ignoring the shocked looks all the Russians were giving her.

"Phil, sweet sweet Phil, I don't know if you know this, but Nat and I are kinda in the middle of an interrogation." Cami said to him. "These morons are giving us everything."

"I don't give everything." Luchkov denied, making Natasha and Cami give him a look.

"Just float the damn phone in between us so we can both talk to him." Natasha told Cami, said woman doing exactly that before Natasha began speaking again. "Coulson, you seriously can't pull us out of this right now."

There was a moment of silence on Phil's end of the line before he finally spoke again.

" _Barton's been compromised._ "

Natasha and Cami shared a look before Cami spoke into the phone again.

"Let us put you on hold." She stated, nodding to Luchkov.

As Luchkov came to take the phone from in between them, Natasha took the opportunity to hit him with her leg and head-but him.

Cami also took the opportunity to use her fire power to quickly burn through the ropes that were keeping her hands tied behind her back before using her telekinesis to harshly flip one of the thugs over her shoulder and down the hole in the middle of the room that lead to the floor below.

Like a spider, Natasha stood up elegantly and started attacking another one of the thugs by kickboxing him in the face. Still tied, she rolled over a thug after she tripped him.

As another thug pulled out his gun to shoot at Cami, Cami used her forcefield power to deflect the bullets back at the man, the bullets going into his legs and therefore incapacitating him.

And yes, during all of this, Phil was still waiting on the phone, listening to the two women as they fought against the Russian men.

Natasha then flipped over and fell down hard on a thug, breaking her chair and therefore freeing herself. Seeing another thug coming up behind Cami, Natasha quickly ran at Cami as said woman used her telekinesis to lift Natasha over her head so she could drop kick the thug. She fell down before flipping right back up and wrapping her legs around his neck and knocking him out cold.

Cami quickly used her telekinesis to force Luchkov's hands behind his back before wrapping a hanging chain around his leg and then pushing him down the open floor and making him dangle there.

Cami then turned to look at Natasha. "You know, this was definitely not how I expected this mission to go. You just dragged me along because you're making me repay you for you saving my ass in Shanghai last month."

Natasha didn't answer and just smirked at Cami as she went and picked up the phone now that they had no more Russian thugs and Generals to worry about.

"Where's Barton now?" Natasha enquired as she and Cami began walking towards the exit.

" _We don't know._ " Phil replied as Natasha put the phone on speaker.

"But he's alive?" Natasha asked, trying to clarify.

" _We think so._ " Phil replied. " _I'll brief you on everything when you get back._ "

"What about Frost Phantom?" Cami asked. "I thought Leia was supposed to be with Clint."

" _She was._ " Phil told her. " _She's fine, though. She's on her way to London right now to talk to Amaranth._ "

"You're seriously calling Mara in on this?" Cami questioned.

" _It's all hands on deck for this, Cami._ " Phil informed her. " _And I have places that I need you and Natasha to go to._ "

Natasha and Cami shared a look before looking back to the phone.

"Who? And where?" Natasha asked.

" _Phoenix, I need you to talk to the big guy._ " Phil instructed.

"Phil, I've never even met Stark." Cami stated, shaking her head even though she knew Phil couldn't see her. "You really think he's just gonna trust some random agent that shows up at his door?"

" _Oh no, I've got Stark._ " He informed her. " _You get the big guy._ "

Cami furrowed her eyebrows in confusion for a moment before a look realization crossed her features.

"O net... ( _Oh no..._ )" Cami muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Sorry, but yes." Phil told her before directing his words to Natasha. "Widow, you've got Code Black. And I'm sorry, but there's no objecting to this."

Natasha's eyes widened slightly as she let out a string of quiet curses in Russian before finally just saying what was on her mind.

"Yesli yeye zovut, togda ad nakonets zamerznet. ( _If she's being called in, then hell has finally frozen over._ )"

Cami just sighed, putting a hand on Natasha's shoulder. "Good luck."

She nodded. "Same to you."

And with that, the two women exited the building to be on their way to begin the journey of what would surely be anything but boring.

 **~o0o~**

A little girl ran through the crowd of an Indian slum of Calcutta as she tried to force her way through massive crowds of people until she came upon a shack and ran inside and up the steps, only to be stopped by an attending woman.

Just then, the little girl spotted him, Bruce Banner, their local doctor.

"Tumi kē? Calē yā'ō! ( _Who are you? Get out!_ )" The attending woman told the little girl, speaking the language of Bengali, which was the local language of Calcutta. "Ēkhānē asusthatā āchē! ( _There is sickness here!_ )"

"Āpani ēkajana ḍāktāra! ( _You're a doctor!_ )" The little girl pointed to Bruce. "Āmāra bābāra jēgē uṭhachē nā! Tini ēkaṭi jbara āchē ēbaṁ tini moaning haẏa, kintu tāra cōkha khulatē habē nā. ( _My father's not waking up! He has a fever and he's moaning, but his eyes won't open._ )"

"Āstē āstē. ( _Slow down._ )" Bruce said, trying to calm the little girl as he crouched down by where she was on the steps.

"Āmāra bābā... ( _My father..._ )" The little girl pleaded.

Bruce looked behind him, seeing how the girl was staring at a few people who were lying down, looking very sick. He then turned back towards the little girl and motioned to the sick people behind him.

"Tini ki tādēra pachanda karēna? ( _Is he like them?_ )" Bruce questioned the little girl.

The little girl held out a fist full of all the money she had with a pleading look in her eyes. "Anugraha. ( _Please._ )"

 **~o0o~**

It didn't take long for Bruce to find himself quickly following the little girl as she lead him inside her house.

As he walked in, the little girl easily escaped through the window, leaving Bruce standing there feeling like an idiot.

"Should've got paid up front, Banner." Bruce muttered to himself.

"You know," A feminine voice began, making Bruce turn around to see a blonde woman walk out from behind the curtains, her hair in a low bun as she wore an ankle length red and orange Sari style dress. "for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you definitely picked a hell of a place to settle."

"Avoiding stress isn't the secret." Bruce told her, taking a couple of cautious steps forward.

"Oh, then pray tell, what is the secret?" She smirked at him. "Wait, let me guess. Is it yoga?"

Bruce smile slightly in amusement before taking a look around the place.

"You brought me to the edge of the city. Smart." He complemented her, glancing out the window. "I, uh... I assume the whole place is surrounded?"

"Just you and me." Cami crossed her arms.

"Mm." Bruce hummed in response before turning back around to face her. "And what about your actress buddy? Is she a spy, too? Do they start that young?"

"Some do." She shrugged. "Some don't."

"And who are you?" Bruce questioned her.

"Camellia Storms." She answered. "You can call me Cami, if you want."

"Are you here to kill me, Miss Storms?" He asked her. "Because that's... that's not gonna work out for everyone."

"Oh, no no. Of course not." Cami assured him. "No, I'm here on behalf of SHIELD."

"SHIELD..." Bruce nodded slowly before meeting her gaze again. "How'd they find me?"

"Oh, we never lost you, doctor." She informed him. "We've just... kept our distance. We've even helped keep other interested parties off your scent."

Bruce tilted his head slightly. "Why?"

"Nick Fury seems to trust you." Cami told him. "But, now we need you to come in."

Bruce pursed his lips in thought for a moment. "What if I said no?"

Cami gave him a gentle smile. "I'll persuade you."

"And what if the... Other Guy says no?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Doctor Banner, you've been more than a year without an incident." Cami reminded him. "Now, I don't know about you, but I don't think you wanna break that streak."

"Yeah, well," Bruce trailed off as he gently rocked a wooden baby cradle back and forth a couple of times as he thought out his next words. "I don't every time get what I want."

Cami chuckled. "Well isn't that a downside of humanity?" She asked rhetorically as she made her way over to a small table, the hem of her dress brushing against the floor as she went. "Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe."

Bruce let out a quiet and slightly amused huff. "Now those, I actively try to avoid."

"This is the Tesseract." Cami informed him, sitting down in a chair as she showed him a photo of the Tesseract on her phone, sliding it across the table. "It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet."

Bruce put on his glasses and took a closer look at the photo of the blue cube.

"What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it?" Bruce asked, gazing at the photo.

"Well, he does want you to find it. It's been taken." Cami informed him. "It emits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. And from some research, it's pretty clear that there's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's exactly where I'd be."

Bruce nodded slowly. "So... Fury isn't after the monster?"

"Not that he's told me." She answered, leaning back in the chair.

"And he tells you everything?" Bruce questioned her.

Cami scoffed. "Hell no. That man is anything but completely honest. But you should talk to him because he needs you on this."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "He needs me in a cage?"

"No one's gonna put you in a..." Cami tried to tell him as she leaned forward in her chair a bit.

"STOP LYING TO ME!" Bruce roared.

The thunderous tone in his voice made Cami shoot out of her chair as she puffed up fireballs in each of her hands, narrowing her eyes and staring him down intensely.

However... something now seemed to be kinda off in the atmosphere.

Bruce stood back up straight, smiling.

"I'm sorry, that was mean." He apologized to Cami. "I just wanted to see what you'd do. I mean, I didn't know you'd do... that." He told her, pointing at the fireballs she had in her hands. "But why don't we just calm down and do this the easy way, where you don't use those, and the Other Guy doesn't make a mess. Okay? Cami?"

Cami, still wary, didn't drop her guard.

However, seeing the look in Bruce's eyes, she eventually dissipated the fireballs in her hands before speaking into her earpiece. "Stand down. We're good here."

 **~o0o~**

Amazingly (and not too entirely surprising), dozens of armed SHIELD agents were surrounding the shack outside.

 **~o0o~**

Bruce looked at Cami, charming a smile at her.

He quirked an eyebrow. "Just you and me?"

Cami couldn't help but just smirk right back at him.

 **~o0o~**

Nick Fury was facing several large monitors as he was having a conference call with members of the World Security Council.

"This is out of line, Director." One of the male members told Fury. "You're dealing with forces you can't control."

"You ever been in a war, Councilman? A firefight?" Fury questioned him. "Did you feel an over abundance of control?"

"You're saying that this Asgard has declared war on our planet?" The Councilman asked.

"Not Asgard. Loki." Fury corrected him.

"He can't be working alone." A female Councilwoman chimed in. "What about the other one? His brother."

"Our intelligence says Thor is not a hostile." Fury informed. "But he's worlds away. We can't depend on him to help. It's up to us."

"Which is why you should be focusing on Phase Two." The first Councilman told him. "It was designed for exactly–"

"Phase Two isn't ready, our enemy is." Fury cut him off. "We need a response team."

The Councilman looked directly at Fury. "The Avengers Initiative was shut down."

"This isn't about the Avengers." Fury denied.

"You're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're gonna leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks." The Councilman sighed.

"I'm not leaving anything to anyone." Fury stated, getting frustrated. "We need a response team. These people may be isolated, unbalanced even, but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need."

"You believe?" The Councilwoman questioned Fury.

"War isn't won by sentiment, Director." The Councilman pointed out.

"No." Fury agreed. "It's won by soldiers."

 **~o0o~**

Somewhere in an old, almost WW2-esque boxing gym, Steve Rogers, a man out of time, the first Avenger (A.k.a. Captain America), was pummeling a punching bag.

It seemed that with every swing of his fist, Steve was experiencing a memory that he was trying to fight off and repress.

A memory of him running through the forest, dodging mortars, gunfire and the Tesseract's energy firearms.

A memory of him getting ready to crash the plane into the sea.

" _There's not enough time! I gotta put her in the water!_ "

Steve started going at the punching bag even harder as one particular sentence Peggy had said to him after Bucky died rang through his mind.

" _You won't be alone._ "

It's like Steve's fists and arms had a mind of their own as he kept going at the punching bag even harder than before. So much so, that it seemed like he couldn't physically stop himself from repeatedly hitting the punching bag. It eventually got to where he ended up tearing the bag open when he knocked it off the chain, making the sand inside of it spill out across the gym floor.

Steve then stood back up straight, breathing hard as he was letting out 70 years of over repressed feelings.

Where was Leia when he needed her?

After taking a few more breaths, Steve picked up another punching bag that was laying next to another dozen bags.

"Trouble sleeping?" Fury asked him, entering the gym as the super soldier put the bag up on the hook before he started punching again.

"I slept for seventy years, sir." Steve replied as he punched the bag a couple of times. "I think I've had my fill."

Fury nodded thoughtfully as he approached Steve. "Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world."

Steve then stopped punching the bag before walking over to the bench and sitting down as he unraveled the tape from his hands.

"I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won." Steve told him. "They didn't say what we lost."

"We've made some mistakes along the way." Fury admitted. "Some very recently."

Steve looked up at him from his spot on the bench. "You here with a mission, sir?"

"I am." He nodded.

"Trying to get me back in the world?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Trying to save it." Fury informed him as he handed Steve a file on the Tesseract.

"HYDRA's secret weapon." Steve mumbled as he looked down at the file.

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was look for you." Fury informed him. "He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."

Steve nodded slowly before glancing up at Fury. "Who took it from you?"

"He's called Loki. He's... not from around here." Fury replied. "There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in."

Steve stared at Fury a moment, taking in his demeanor as he thought out his next question.

"...Why didn't you have Leia come and tell me all this?" Steve finally asked.

"Miss Storms is otherwise engaged at the moment." Fury answered. "She's been sent to London to bring her sister in to help with all this."

Steve blinked. "I didn't know she had a sister."

"Yes, well, there's a lot of things you don't know about her." Fury waved him off. "The point to all this, Captain, is that the world has gotten even stranger than you already know. We need you on this."

"You know, at this point," Steve began as he thought about Fury's words. "I doubt anything would surprise me."

"Ten bucks says your wrong." Fury challenged him. "There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment." He informed Steve as said man turned and picked up a punching bag before making his way towards the exit of the gym. "Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?"

Steve didn't even look back, walking through the exit as he answered Fury's question.

"You should've left it in the ocean."

 **~o0o~**

With her long brown hair down in loose waves as it blew in the evening breeze while she wore a knee length royal blue dress, Amaranth Storms walked hand in hand with her boyfriend Tom Hiddleston as they made there way up the front steps of their townhouse that was located somewhere in Central London.

Mara smiled wide. "I had such good time tonight. We should go to the theater more often."

Tom chuckled as he unlocked the front door. "Well, I do know that Phantom of the Opera is your favorite, darling. Nice anniversary gift, don't you think?"

"The best." She giggled in agreement as they walked into the entryway of their home, shutting the door behind them. Mara then turned around and wrapped her arms around Tom's neck, pecking him on the lips before pulling away slightly. "Can you believe it's been two years since we met?"

"And they've been the best two years of my life, my Angel of Music." Tom grinned, grabbing Mara's hand and twirling her around, making her laugh. Mara then sighed contently.

"Why don't we have some wine to end this wonderful night?" She suggested.

"Lead the way, darling." Tom smiled at her, gesturing at the small hallway that lead to their kitchen/dining area.

Mara giggled as she grabbed his hand before she lead the two of them towards the kitchen. She switched the lights on before stopping abruptly, making Tom almost run into her as they looked at the sight before them.

"You two really need to rethink your wine selection." Leia said as she sat kicked back in a dining chair with her black leather combat boot clad feet up on the table, a glass of red wine in her hand.

"Oh, do please make yourself at home." Mara said, rolling her eyes as she and Tom walked further into the room.

"You know, I hear Bordeaux in France is lovely this time of year." Leia stated, taking a sip of her wine. "Maybe you two should go there for your next holiday. Oh, and hello, Tom."

"Hi?" He quirked an eyebrow.

Mara glanced at Tom before looking back at her sister. "What are you doing here, Leia?"

"What? I can't just drop by and say a nice hello?" Leia enquired as she took her feet off the table, sitting up straight as she set her wine glass down on the table's surface.

"You never do." Mara pointed out as she walked to the other side of the table where her sister was. "At least you never do unannounced."

"Well, when's usually the only time you would see me?" Leia asked, standing up before going and grabbing another wine glass from Mara and Tom's wine-bar. "What could be the only reason I would show up here, waiting in the dark until you returned home?"

"Patience is a virtue." Mara told her.

"Yes, well, I don't really have the luxury of patience right now." Leia responded as she poured a glass of wine before holding it out to her sister.

Mara pursed her lips in thought as she took the wine glass from her sister's hand. Her eyes darted from the wine to Leia and then to Tom before darting back to Leia. "You're really serious?"

"More than I think I've ever been, _Pandora_." Leia, giving Mara a look.

"Tom, could you give us a few minutes?" Mara asked, glancing over at her boyfriend. "Please."

"Sure..." He nodded slowly as he looked back and forth between the two sisters. "I'll just... be upstairs."

"Thank you." Leia told him gratefully, Tom nodding once before turning around and making his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs that lead to the townhouse's second floor. Leia then looked back to Mara. "Shall we sit?"

"Yeah." She said before both of them went and sat down at the dining table, Leia picking her wine glass back up and taking a sip as Mara took a sip of her own wine. She then set the wine glass down in front of her before looking directly at Leia. "Why are you here, sis?"

"It seems that the world is very soon going to be in need of a team of remarkable people to help defend itself against an entity of great proportions." She told her as she pulled out her cellphone.

"Wow(!) Did Fury tell you say that?" Mara smirked.

"He might've. He might not have. Doesn't matter." Leia waved her off as she pulled up a picture of the Tesseract and showed it to Mara. "I know you don't like to be called in unless absolutely necessary. So, trust me when I say that this is very necessary. It's called the Tesseract and it's been taken. It has the very possible capability of wiping out the entire planet. A man, or... god by the name of Loki went to a lot of trouble to steal it. I was there when it happened, and I can tell you that this guy means business and will go to whatever lengths to get what he wants."

"Wait, Loki..." Mara trailed off as she thought. "You told me about the whole thing that happened in New Mexico last year. And that it had to do with... Thor? You were never really that detailed about it. Isn't he that guy's brother or something?"

"Yes." Leia nodded. "I wasn't in New Mexico when all that happened, but I heard all about it from Coulson. Anyway, the whole Thor thing doesn't matter. As of right now, he's... worlds away. Literally. Can't exactly call on him to help us if we have no idea on how to even do that."

"Okay... so why do you need me?" Mara enquired, taking another sip of wine.

"You're good at what you do, Mara." Leia told her. "Or at least, you're good at what you do when you need to do it. Fury thinks that with your powers combined with mine and Cami's and few other select individuals, and all of our combined tactical knowledge and training, we could actually have a chance at stopping this threat before it takes hold... Look, sis, I know you don't like to be called in. You're just a consultant for SHIELD. It's what you chose to be, and that's fine. But you're one of the best assets we've got. We need you on this."

"Wow, that's some speech." Mara smiled slightly as she pushed Leia's phone back towards her. "It almost sounds like you actually need my help."

Leia rolled her eyes playfully. "Like I said, sister dear, you're one of the best."

"Along with our fire-wielding sister." Mara pointed out. "And you, a woman who can turn a room as cold as ice with a mere flick of her wrist."

"Now that's a bit of an exaggeration." Leia let out a half-laugh. "You're the air-bending, fast-reflex using, elastic one of the family."

"I suppose I am." Mara smirked as she used her elasticity power to stretch out her arm really far and reach over to the wine bar and grab the bottle of red wine without even getting out of her seat.

"Abuse of power!" Leia accused as she pointed to her sister, not being able to keep a small smirk from her lips.

Mara rolled her eyes as she poured a bit more wine for herself.

"You know..." Mara began as she poured a bit more wine for Leia, too. "I find my elasticity power kinda disturbing. I mean, I don't really mind it because it comes in handy sometimes when I need to use it. But... it's still weird."

"Come on, sis, I can create ice! Cami can create fire!" Leia exclaimed. "That's way weirder than being able to stretch your limbs to unusually long lengths like Elastigirl in The Incredibles."

"Oh, really?" Mara challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Leia rolled her eyes, smacking her hands down on top of the table. "Now, are you in or out?"

Mara bit her lip in thought for a moment, taking a sip of wine before setting the glass back down on the dining table and looking to her sister.

"If I do this..." Mara started. "You can't call me in again for at least a year."

"Deal." Leia immediately agreed, pushing away from the dining table and standing up as she put her cellphone back in her pocket. "Tom! I'm stealing your girlfriend away for a bit!"

Mara rolled her eyes as she and Leia made their way out of the kitchen/dining area and towards the stairs that lead up to the second floor.

"Just try and return her to me again in the same condition she left in." Tom teased as he appeared at the top of the stairs.

"No promises there, Hiddles." Leia winked at Tom as Mara made her way up the stairs.

"I'll be down in fifteen minutes." Mara told Leia before disappearing off down the hallway towards her and Tom's bedroom.

"I'll be down here, drinking more of your wine!" Leia called up to her before looking back to Tom. "Seriously, though, I will do my best to make sure she stays as safe as she can be."

"And how safe is that?" Tom quirked an eyebrow at her, knowing that there was no way of telling how safe anyone could actually be.

"You're catching on, Hiddleston." Leia smirked at him before going back into the kitchen/dining area to finish off her and Mara's wines.

Tom just shook his head before turning to make his way down the hall towards his and Mara's bedroom to help her finish packing, all the while hoping that everything wouldn't turn out too terribly insane.

 _Oh, how wrong he would be..._

 **~o0o~**

Natasha now currently found herself sitting in a helicopter as it flew through the air to the location of which she wasn't too familiar with. She looked out the window at the scenery of... out in the middle of nowhere as the helicopter was approaching a tall structure. A structure which Natasha had only been to once before.

 **THE FRIDGE**

LOCATION: _CLASSIFIED_

"Hello again." Natasha whispered as she gazed at the structure that was 100 stories tall. A 100 story tall structure that could only be accessed through the roof.

Natasha refocused her mind as the helicopter approached the building's roof and landed on the helipad that was there before the helicopter door slid open, letting Natasha jump out. She walked a little ways to a set of bulletproof glass doors that had two armed guards that stood behind them.

"Identify yourself and state your purpose." One of the guards told Natasha as she approached them.

"Agent Natasha Romanoff." Natasha replied. "I'm here for the temporary extraction of a prisoner."

One of the guards looked to a monitor on the wall for a moment before looking back to Natasha. "On who's order?"

Natasha crossed her arms. "Director Nick Fury."

He immediately looked to the other guard. "Let her in."

 **~o0o~**

It always feels like I'm falling.

It's like I'm falling into a world that I have no hope of gaining control over. Like something's calling from deep within my soul. It feels like it's gripping my bones and not wanting to let go. I just want to wake up. But I can't. Why is that?

It's because there's no one here to help me.

It almost seems as if I'm caught in some sort of bad dream. Although, the reason for that is probably because I am.

My own personal bad dream.

I still remember the pained looked on her face as the blood poured out of her.

" _It's okay, Amber. I'm gonna go get help._ " I told her as I stood up from her bleeding body that had fallen through the roof of an old shed that had been in my foster parents' backyard. " _Just stay awake until the ambulance can get here._ "

That was the last thing I told her before I ran off to go and get help, not knowing that those were the last words I would ever say to my best friend.

 _~o0o~_

Desiree Fury's eyes snapped opened as she awoke from yet another nightmare. One of countless others. The nightmares didn't seem to scare her that much anymore, though.

Probably because they came on a regular basis. She had gotten used to them over the years.

The nightmare she had just awoken from was one that came to her semi-regularly. The nightmare was a memory of when she and the only true best friend she had ever had in her life were nine years old. It was the day that basically set Desiree onto the path that made her the woman she is now. The day that was a long twenty seven years in her past.

A day that she curses for ever even happening.

Desiree sighed as she sat up from the bed in the secure room she was kept in. It was basically solitary confinement. It did have a window, though, that she could look out of.

A window that didn't open and was at least three feet thick.

God, she hated it here. It was absolutely infuriating.

Then again, Desiree knew that she herself was to blame, considering the things that she had done to get herself put into The Fridge.

Still, Desiree felt, and always would feel, that her actions were justified. That the things she had done to get put in a containment facility such as The Fridge would never be anything she regretted.

"I regret nothing." Desiree whispered to herself as she stretched her arms above her head before standing and walking over to gaze out of the window at the sea of water that surrounded the little island The Fridge was on. She mindlessly ran her fingers through her wavy, shoulder-length blonde hair as her mind woke up from the nap she'd just had.

However, Desiree's thoughts were soon interrupted when she heard the sound of the lock to her room being disengaged, making her turn around to face the door as it slid open.

"Miss Fury, you have a visitor." A guard told her as she entered the room, holding a pair of cuffs in her hand. "You know the drill."

Desiree just rolled her eyes and held out her hands in front of her so the guard could put the handcuffs around her wrists before leading her out of the room.

 **~o0o~**

Natasha sat at a metal desk in a secure and private room as she waited for Desiree to be brought to her.

She didn't have to wait too long before the door to the room opened, letting Desiree enter.

With her hands cuffed in front of her, Desiree looked up and smirked slightly when she saw Natasha sitting there.

"Agent Romanoff." Desiree greeted as she smirked even wider before walking over to sit on the other side of the desk as the guard closed the door to the room, leaving the two of them alone. "To what do I owe this... unexpected visit?"

"Enough with the snark, Desiree." Natasha snapped as she sat forward in her chair, folding her arms on top of the desk. "I'm here for one purpose and one purpose only."

"Oh, please, you know that snark is one of my best traits." Desiree shot back as she laid her cuffed hands on top of the desk. "But do please tell me what brings you here. Something of which I'm very curious about given that the last time you were here was when you arrested me. A year ago."

"One of the best days of my career." Natasha sneered.

"Oh, I'm sure it was." Desiree retorted. "Now, are you going to tell me why you're here? Or not? Because I would be very happy to just go right on back to my room where I can have peace and quiet."

Natasha sighed. "There's... been an incident."

"Ooh, color me intrigued." Desiree smirked. "Pray tell, what is this incident that's so significant that you need my help?"

"A potentially world ending catastrophe." Natasha answered. "And believe me, I'd much rather be anywhere else asking for help than sitting here, talking to you."

"Well, if you hate it so much, then why did you come?" Desiree enquired, raising an eyebrow.

Natasha smiled mirthlessly at Desiree. "Because your father ordered me to."

"And how is dear old dad?" She enquired, leaning back in her chair a bit.

"Making my life hell at the moment." Natasha responded.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for your discontent." Desiree rolled her eyes. "Now, why do you need my help? Why would you even want it?"

"Because you're a conniving, treacherous and almost downright evil snake of a woman." Natasha told her. "Which, and I will deny I ever said this, could prove very useful in what we're about to go up against."

Desiree smiled slightly as she gazed at Natasha. "I never thought I'd see the day that Black Widow would actually give me a compliment."

Natasha sighed. "I never thought I'd see the day where I'd actually be kind of wanting to ask for help from Black Rose."

Desiree smirked. "Well then, I guess we're both experiencing new things."

"I suppose we are." Natasha replied. "Now, are you in?"

"Do I have a choice?" Desiree shot back as she quirked an eyebrow.

"Not really." Natasha shrugged as she stood up from the desk. "But it felt better if I asked."

"You haven't changed at all." Desiree commented as she stood up from the desk, holding her cuffed hands down in front of her.

"And neither have you." Natasha stated as she opened the door, a couple of guards waiting outside the room to escort them away to go and get ready to leave The Fridge.

Desiree's mind was reeling now. What could make her father be so desperate as to actually feel like he needed to call her in? To have her be taken from the place he basically had put her in for the past year. A place that he knew Desiree hated. Why had he ordered her to be temporarily taken out?

Something was most certainly, undoubtedly amiss.


End file.
